Google: We are proud to be tax dodgers

I am very proud of the [tax dodging] structure that we set up. We did it based on the incentives that the governments offered us to operate. — Eric Schmidt, Google Chairman

For Eric Schmidt to say that he is ‘proud’ of his company’s approach to paying tax is arrogant, out of touch and an insult to his customers here in the UK. — Margaret Hodge, chairman House of Commons Public Accounts Committee

In an interview in New York Eric Schmidt, Google Chairman, bragged that Google had no intention of paying more to the UK exchequer. Documents filed last month show that Google generated around £2.5 billion in UK sales last year but paid just £6 million in corporation tax.

The Californian based search giant has also been revealed to have sheltered nearly $10 billion of its revenues in Bermuda allowing it to avoid some $2 billion worldwide taxes in 2011.

What Eric Schmidt has failed to grasp is that the public is thoroughly sick of companies like Google, Starbucks, Amazon thinking their sheer financial size and monopoly or near monopoly position means they can do as they please as paying taxes is only for the little people and those companies that cannot afford the accountants and lawyers to get way with not paying taxes.

Contrast what the arrogant Shit, oops sorry, Schmidt, has to say on the matter

There are lots of benefits to [being in Britain]. It’s very good for us, but to go back to shareholders and say, ‘We looked at 200 countries but felt sorry for those British people so we want to [pay them more]’, there is probably some law against doing that.

with what Margaret Hodge had to say

Ordinary people who pay their taxes unquestioningly are sick and tired of seeing hugely profitable global companies like Google use every trick in the book to get out of contributing their fair share.

Google should recognise its obligations to countries like the UK from which it derives such huge benefits, and pay proper corporation tax on the profits it makes from economic activity here. It should be ashamed, not proud, to do anything less.

What Schmidt seems to have failed to notice, is that Starbucks is now a toxic brand that drinking shit coffee in Starbucks is now akin to associating with known criminals, that a boycott of Amazon is growing, that we do not have to use Google Chrome as our web browser, we can use Firefox (downloading as I write), that if we do use Google to search or youtube to watch videos (there is vimeo) we do not have to click on any of the annoying adverts.